The original Kentucky fried chicken

We had a rehearsal meal for the 4th of July earlier this week - for, though gourmet.com, like most American food sites, was giving Independence Day recipes that involved firing up the barbecue, in my natal Kentucky we naturally celebrated with fried chicken. Now I may have lived in England for most of my adult life, but I am the possessor of the only genuine recipe for making what is (Google it if you don't believe me) the world's most popular dish.

Why should the descendant of Russian Jews with an unbroken rabbinical pedigree be the world expert on KY fried chicken? Simple. Though I was not born on the 4th of July, my father was; and our birthplace was Lexington, home of Bluegrass, thoroughbreds, Bourbon (and Burley tobacco, the cash crop we farmed).

When we were children, my brother would eat nothing but the local delicacy (though he made an exception for chocolate); so Rhoda, who looked after us from childhood to adolescence, fried chicken at least three times a week (it is almost as good cold as hot). And though it has nothing to do with my status as a fried chicken authority, I add as a footnote that my date for my high school prom was the Kentucky Fried Chicken heiress. (She married someone else, and the two of them were lost at sea on their honeymoon in a hot-air balloon. I would not have been in that balloon.)

The recipe

First, you must use free-range chicken, as the meat must have some resistance to the tooth. I have used every sort of chicken, from kosher to poulet de Bresse (once near St Tropez - but it was too well-muscled). Cut it in eight parts if it's large, four if it's a smaller bird.

Second, you need a cast-iron frying pan - though the point is its heft, not its chemistry. The depth is not so important, so long as the fat does not spill over the top when the chicken is put into the pan - about one-third full is good.

Third. You must use either vegetable oil or lard or a mixture of the two - this is the one negotiable part of the recipe. In America most people use solid hydrogenated vegetable fat such as Crisco. But the only thing that really matters is that it's clean - so first-use virgin vegetable oil is best. You heat it until a haze rises, or a cube of bread browns.

Fourth, you must shake the chicken parts in seasoned flour in a brown paper bag - this is not optional, and the best bags come from Wholefoods, but two greengrocers' bags doubled-up will do. Plastic bags make the coating claggy; I don't know why. Plain flour is best; seasoning means salt, and black pepper, lots of it, and a good hit of cayenne pepper (but when you have mastered the recipe, you can experiment with a pinch of cumin, or rosemary). The chicken parts should be dry when tossed in the flour - never soak them in buttermilk or anything else, or use batter: to do so is heresy. Shake off any excess flour.

Fifth, do not crowd the pan, fry the chicken in batches if necessary, dark meat first, skin side down, turning it when it's gold. When the chicken is all-over golden, it's done - cooked through, and perfectly juicy with a crunchy crust.

I promise you this is the only true recipe, and if you've tried it, I'm sure you agree. But what to eat with it? We had inadvertent hushpuppies - as we also fried a bit of uncooked-through bread. Corn on the cob? Coleslaw? Mashed potato? And what do you drink? (We had - real, Marker's Mark - mint juleps in frosted silver tumblers - but that's another story.)

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